Hello everyone! I was wondering if I should get tankmates like neon tetras and ghost shrimps for my Betta (: I recently upgraded to a 10 gal, and my veiltail betta, Crimson blew a bubble nest and seems pretty happy. I feel like he should have some tank mates now.

So I have questions about Neon Tetras,

- My tank is unfiltered right now, so if I get these tetras, do I need a filter? Can anyone recommend one?

-I heard around the forum that Neons can be nippy. Can it be prevented? Like having more hiding places?:/

- What kind of plants are favored by them? I need to know so I can plant my aquarium better ^^

-There shouldn't be any difference to taking care of my betta except for different food for them right? Just regular weekly water changes?

and about ghost shrimp, leaving some food uneaten on the ground will work for them right?

Thank you guys for your time ^^ sorry if the questions seem a little silly, I'm still a newbie.

I've heard shrimp shouldn't be added to anything that you have to do 100% water changes on. I however haven't had any issues just yet. I've got 11 shrimp in a cycled 6.6 gallon tank, but have had issues with diatoms, so I've been doing 90% water changes. I take everything out. Fish, shrimp, plants, everything, and give what I can a good scrub down to get rid of as many as I can. So, as long as you have something to keep the shrimp in while you do water changes, and a net to catch them, and properly acclimate them afterwards, you should be ok.

If you want tank mates beyond a snail or shrimp, you really should have a filter or else you're going to be doing A LOT of water changes, and most other fish IME aren't as forgiving as bettas.

Personally I'm not a big neon fan as they have been way inbreed giving them low immune systems and genetic disorders. I'm more of a ember tetra fan for betta tanks as they have the same water requirements, if you want a schooling fish. But if you want a colorful fish like the neons, I'd suggest endler's livebearers, but only get the males.

But moving on to your other questions:

1. Yes they need a filter, I really like my AquaClears and my Tetra Whispers. They do a fabulous job at cleaning my tanks

2. They can nip fins, but they only reason that they would do that is if they don't have a school of friends. Neons are better with 6+, but the more the merrier. But since you only have a 10g I would stick around the 6-7 range of them. (this also applies to the lovely ember tetras, and endlers don't need schools! and they're smaller so 7 would be a perfect number of them, possibly 8 if your betta is docile and you're over filtering.)

3. Neons, embers and neons don't really have a preference when it comes to plants. But they LOVE live plants. My endlers love eating the microorganisms on the leaves. My bettas love their broad leaf plants like java ferns and anubais. To really give you a better idea on plant types I'd need to know what kind of lights you have, if you have any special substrate and if you use any fertilizers.

4. Nope, no other changes needed (if you get the filter). But for the first month or two you're going to need to do 30-50% water changes on your tank because you'll be cycling. However, if you are able to steal some filter media/decorations/gravel from a friends or reliable LFS it'll help you out a lot! And about the food, flakes; pellets; frozen; and live food are all great for the neons, embers, or endlers

5. Yup, just some left over food is great for them. When I had ghost shrimp they would often swim to the top of the tank when I fed, and grabbed the flakes from the top!

Thanks everyone for the responses ^^. @AquaKai Very helpful info! actually, I only have a plastic plant right now, but I'm planning to get live plants. Again, a bit silly but aquarium plants are just planted in gravel right? They just need sunlight? >.< I may consider other fish than neon tetras.. hmm

Thanks everyone for the responses ^^. @AquaKai Very helpful info! actually, I only have a plastic plant right now, but I'm planning to get live plants. Again, a bit silly but aquarium plants are just planted in gravel right? They just need sunlight? >.< I may consider other fish than neon tetras.. hmm

No problem!

Most of the aquarium plants are "just planted in the gravel" but some aren't. Anubias, which I would suggest for your tank, the rhizome (big ball like thing at the base of the plant) isn't put in the gravel. Neither is it with java fern, another recommended plant. Some need more than sunlight, some need REALLY high lighting with lots of ferts and injected CO2 like dwarf baby tears.

For you I would stick with low light plants like anacharis, hornwort, crypts, anubias, java fern, java moss, xmass moss, and even bacopa monnieri (moneywort) as those are all easy plants to take care of. And if you want plants for the top of your tank, floaters, I'd do duckweed. It can be a pain in the butt if you would want to get rid of it, but bettas love the cover it gives, IME.